Denis clears waivers, is bought out

As expected, goaltender Marc Denis cleared waivers and was bought out of the final year of his contract, the Lightning announced.

"Needless to say we are all sorry things didn't work out differently for Mac with our organization," GM Jay Feaster said in a statement. "To his credit, Marc has been the ultimate professional to the very end, handling the news with the same dignity and grace he has handled everything that has happened during his tenure in Tampa. We wish him nothing but success as he moves forward with his career."

The Lightning will be responsible for two-thirds of the $3-million that was left on the last year of Denis' contract. For cap purposes, the $2-million will be spread over double the years remaining, meaning $1-million will be applied to next season and to 2009-10.

"It is an unfortunate situation," said Denis, who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. "I hate the word sorry, but I'm kind of sorry things didn't work out. I really thought everything would be a good fit, but unfortunately it wasn't. Now we turn the page."

Denis, 30, was acquired in June 2006 from the Blue Jackets in the Fredrik Modin deal. Denis played 54 games for the Lightning. He was 18-23-1 with a 3.32 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage.

"Now it's a situation, 'What's going to happen with me?' I'm very aware of that," Denis said. "I'm not concerned about my future. Am I concerned with my future of my NHL career? Yeah, maybe. But I'm very confident that I'm going to play in the NHL next year."